that foreign polic} is much too intricate and delicate a matter for a democratic electorate ever to understand. The de- < fense of Quemoy might be in the na- E ' tional interest even if nine out of ten I'''' Americans were convinced that it was not, and it might be altogether impossi- ble ever to explain to the nine why they were mistaken. The Vice-President obviously had somethIng of thIs In mInd when he wrote his statement, but, just as obviously, this is not all that he had in mind. As a substitute for the kind of leadership that merely mirrors public opinion, he recommends one that fash- ions opinion-one that takes a position first and wins the consent of the gov- erned later. This is a concept as appli- cable to domestic policy as to foreign policy, and it is a concept exactl} oppo- h site to the one held-or at least put into -t / ^ ^,:ò- practice-by Mr. Eisenhower. The President has never said in so many words that he considers it his responSI- bility to follow public opinion, but he has always acted as if this were his view, and In several cases he has deliherately rejected the role now advocated by Mr. Nixon. Throughout his first term and part of hIs second term, he would not even go so far as to try to rally the pub- lic behind his legislative program, and the efforts he has made in the last year or so have been feeble and largely unsuccessful. Most people here have belIeved for some time that he could re- " lieve a great deal of the tension over school integration by endeavoring to lead public opinion, and in the last two or three years there has scarcely been a news conference at which some cor- respondent did not provide him with a neat opportunity to do so. He has humbly refused each one. ("1 think it makes no difference whether or not 1 .:: endorse it," he once said of the Supreme Court decision of 1954. Whether or not he does endorse it is still a mystery, ; but the really odd thing is his view that t a President's opinion makes no differ- ence.) In fact, his speech about Que- moy three weeks ago was his maiden effort at convincing the country of the wisdom of a policy that he had reason to believe met with extensive disap- proval, and as he got ready for that address he may have reflected on the possibility that things could be rather J different tuday if earlier in his adminis- t tration he had sought to lead the coun- try around to hIs way of thinking about China policy. He entered Republican politics in 1952 with grave reservations about the Party line on China (which he managed to avoid endorsing through- out his campaign of that year), and be- THE N W YORKER 111 '* "<: / .-{ "" ^ r' ' A' # 1 1 '" , " $ , ,', c$ <<: :' t \, ' r ": ., >>, " - .' i "<. '...' /ý" . " T [, o rr ' f l ' (JJ t, < "t . ' , ,,g .... ,.} . ... op ;.:. .:-::" >.- @ j. <: >..- 000" ",.b -.(:.: ..'.>.i :'c... :..::: :-" .N';:",;;,. p. .q.:. ,t ,," Ø#., ..' j." PJ$. " ' ... ,oM'v.' ." " ,'^ ".. "x .,' ... ....' k v" ,'>' J , t < , .,.. . . t , <" ".> , ,c.- " If \ .'"C p#:' . ,,'- &' "," , ,'" "' ?}, C " v ( ", . 'h 3S> "'-' .:. : ".i #. :' " .ÍÎ " eJY. · · k -ffj,k! a JP" After": :coffee.. ,.., ,enJoy I I \t }f1@ th:e dri ( liqueur "!' T ø 't .' ß b J "I ? ',: }^ ' ':' % # ;.. v f" -", 'fL ' .t .. >>'t Æ-v " \ /" Q r ' , , ...." ". -.1'... ". 1- . .' ",., , A ., /- ., "" .ð- " - ':: : -" : ' ? " , "s. ... :..', d- ;i ",1_ "4.}<,' ", ::. 1 :-:. "'" '.,,,, ., ',: " Jt l þ" ::.:- } " \ :' ,"<. ,<<<< , *'>' ". " -.? <.v " R h i'v'. > .>.. j . ' ," : .. .. ........' "... .:.,.' -" \...':" " ",">>.. Let this seal be your guide to quality JULIUS WILE SONS & CO., INC., N. Y. . 86 PROOF